Captain Chuck Maultsby took off from Eilson AFB at midnight local time (0400 EDT) on October 27, 1962. His mission was to collect radioactive samples from a Soviet nuclear test that had drifted up to the North Pole. A major navigational error led to an overflight of the Soviet Union on the most dangerous day of the Cuban Missile Crisis, prompting complaints from Nikita Khrushchev that he could have provoked a nuclear war.

Captain Chuck Maultsby overflew Barter Island at 0800 EDT (0400 Alaska) on October 27. 1962. Blinded by the Aurora Borealis, he took a wrong turn and ended up over the Soviet Union on the most dangerous day of the Cuban missile crisis. He was meant to fly from Eilson AFB in Alaska to the North Pole and back, but he was likely pulled toward magnetic north.

Blinded by the Aurora Borealis, Captain Charles Maultsby took a wrong turn and ended up over the Soviet Union on the most dangerous day of the Cuban missile crisis. He penetrated Soviet air space at 1159 EDT on October 27. 1962. He was meant to fly from Eilson AFB in Alaska to the North Pole and back, but he was likely pulled toward magnetic north, and rolled out in the direction of Chukotka instead of Alaska.

The Soviet Union scrambled MiG interceptors from Pevek and Anadyr after Captain Chuck Maultsby penetrated Soviet air space on October 27, 1962 at the height of the Cuban missile crisis. The MiGs attempted to shoot Maultsby down, but were unable to reach the U-2, which was flying at a height of 70,000 feet.

The Soviet Union scrambled MiG interceptors from Pevek and Anadyr after Captain Chuck Maultsby penetrated Soviet air space on October 27, 1962 at the height of the Cuban missile crisis. The MiGs attempted to shoot Maultsby down, but were unable to reach the U-2, which was flying at a height of 70,000 feet.

Captain Chuck Maultsby was lost over the Soviet Union in a U-2. The date was October 27, 1962, on the most dangerous day of the Cuban missile crisis. The time was 1227 EDT. Soviet MiGs were on his tail, attempting to shoot him down. To reorient him, navigators ordered him to turn left until Orion's Belt was off the right wing of his aircraft. Since the constellation was in the south, this meant that he would be heading back east, toward Alaska.

Captain Chuck Maultsby did a dead stick landing at Kotzebue air field at 1025 local time (1445 EDT) on October 27, 1962, after an accidental overflight of the Soviet Union. The 10 hour 25 minute flight also set a record as the longest ever U-2 flight. The U-2 ran out of gas as it exited the Soviet Union, and Maultsby had to glide into Kotzebue, escorted by two nuclear-armed F102 interceptors.

Air Force F 102s armed with nuclear weapons scrambled from Galena AFB at the height of the Cuban missile crisis, on October 27, 1962. The Soviets had scrambled MiG fighters to try to shoot down a U-2 pilot, Captain Chuck Maultsby, who accidentally penetrated Soviet air space. The two F102s escorted Maultsby back to Alaska after he ran out of gas over the Bering Strait.

Captain Chuck Maultsby took off from Eilson AFB at midnight local time (0400 EDT) on October 27, 1962. His mission was to collect radioactive samples from a Soviet nuclear test that had drifted up to the North Pole. A major navigational error led to an overflight of the Soviet Union on the most dangerous day of the Cuban Missile Crisis, prompting complaints from Nikita Khrushchev that he could have provoked a nuclear war.

Blinded by the Aurora Borealis, Captain Charles Maultsby took a wrong turn and ended up over the Soviet Union on the most dangerous day of the Cuban missile crisis. He spent almost one and a quarter hours over the Soviet Union, penetrating Soviet air space 1159 EDT on October 27. 1962, and exiting at 1313 EDT. He was meant to fly from Eilson AFB in Alaska to the North Pole and back, but he was likely pulled toward magnetic north, and rolled out in the direction of Chukotka instead of Alaska.